The great Charter, so called, obtained by the English barons from King John, A. D. 1215. This name is also given to the charter granted to the people of England in the ninth year of Henry III., and confirmed by Edward I.

A charter signed by King John of England in 1215. It attached the absolute powers of the monarch and guaranteed fundamental rights and privileges to the people. The provisions of the Magna Carta were; A fair trial for all; preservation of ancient liberties; fundamental principles of government; the requirement of the King (monarch) to uphold laws and the prohibition of the monarch from making new laws without consulting the Great Council. This charter was significant in that it represented the beginning of parliamentary democracy as we know it, in that the monarch could not make laws without consulting others.

Charter to which King John of England was forced to subscribe on June 12, 1215, in which basic limits were set on the King's powers. King John had ruled tyrannically and his barons rebelled, committing themselves to war with the crown unless the King agreed to the Charter. It is held to be the precursor of habeas corpus, among other things, for Article 39 of the Magna Carta held that no man shall be "imprisoned, exiled or destroyed ... except by lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land".

'Great Charter' sealed by King John in 1215. It was an instrument by which the King agreed to be bound by law, and which gave 'freemen' inalienable rights; notably trial by jury. Originally, 'freemen' meant barons, but the idea spread so that these rights extended to all social classes.

The agreement forced upon King John by the English barons on June 15, 1215, at Runnymede, England, that stripped many powers from the king in favor of the barons. The barons created a group of 25 of their number, the forerunner of the first English parliament founded fifty years later. The innovation in the charter was that one of the baron's number could make a complaint to at least four of the twenty five, who would then determine of their complaint against the king was valid. If it was found to be so, then the king had forty days to correct the ‘injustice', after which the barons would seize such property of His Majesty and the Royal family as deemed necessary for redress. The charter layed the foundation for the first constitutional monarchy wherein the king's heretofore legally limitless powers were formally checked by another political body. In ordinary feudal systems, the power of the king was checked not by a formal political mechanism but by the power of the great Royal Peers, whose support in political and military affairs he required to maintain authority and legitimacy. Complete Text

British document, signed by King John, which reaffirmed long-standing rights and responsibilities of the English nobility; limited the powers of the king; and recognized that all people, including the government and monarch, are subject to the law.

Great Charter issued by King John of England in 1215; confirmed feudal rights against monarchical claims; represented principle of mutual limits and obligations between rulers and feudal aristocracy. (p. 381)

Charter to which subscribed King John of England on June 12, 1215 in which a basic set of limits were set on the King's powers. King John had ruled tyrannically. His barons rebelled and committed themselves to war with King John unless he agreed to the Charter. Held to be the precursor of habeas corpus as Article 39 of the Magna Carta held that no man shall be "imprisoned, exiled or destroyed ... except by lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land". Click here to see the full text of the Magna Carta.

Magna Carta was originally formed in London in 10 May, 1969 by Chris Simpson (born Christopher John Simpson, 13.7.1942, in Harrogate, Yorkshire) (guitar, vocals, Harmonica), Lyell Tranter (guitar, vocals) and Glen Stuart (vocals).